Mistletoe and Wine
by rubycaspar
Summary: Twoshot, set during the team's first two Christmases on Atlantis... Sheyla
1. Mistletoe and Wine Part One

Disclaimer – I own none of the Stargate franchise.

A little early, but Merry Christmas everyone! It's almost 3am here, so I apologise for any bad mistakes in this story. It's a two-shot - enjoy, and let me know what you think!

**Mistletoe and Wine**

The tree was over ten feet tall, and stood in one of the large plant pots that had been found on Atlantis. John mused that it was the first time it had held live fauna in ten thousand years.

It was just a shame that they didn't have any proper decorations for it. Still, John had to admit he was impressed by the handmade decorations the expedition had managed to come up with. The commissary was going to look great for the party.

The room was abuzz with people preparing. It was a kind of last minute thing, but they had managed to cobble together the essentials for a decent celebration. John stood and watched with interest while everyone hurried around him with things to do – one of the main advantages of being in command was that no one asked him to do anything.

"Hello, Major Sheppard."

John turned round and smiled at his team-mate. "Hi, Teyla," he said.

She returned the smile and then turned her attention to the Christmas tree, a puzzled expression settling over her face. John couldn't help smiling again – for some reason he found her constant confusion over Earth traditions highly amusing, something he made no attempt to hide from her. He also found it completely adorable, but he kept that to himself.

"So this tree is for… Christmas?" She said hesitatingly. John nodded. "Is Christmas some kind of ritual on Earth?" She asked curiously.

"Kind of," John answered. "You remember when we were talking about religions on Earth? Christianity?"

"Oh – yes."

"Right, well, Christmas is a Christian holiday, celebrating the birth of Jesus," explained John.

Teyla frowned. "He was… a prophet?" She said.

John started to shake his head, then frowned in confusion and started to nod, then settled on a shrug. "Er… well… that's in contention I guess…" He shook his head. "For the purposes of _Christmas_ no – Christians believe Jesus was the son of God."

Teyla nodded. "Oh yes, I remember," she said. "He was killed and then came back to life after three days."

"You got it," he said. Teyla smiled graciously, and John smiled back.

"Anyway, Christmas has become a big holiday on Earth, and lots of non-Christians celebrate it as well," John said. He and Teyla stepped out of the way of two technicians carrying a large stepladder towards the tree.

"And that is why we are having a party?" Teyla asked.

"Today's Christmas Eve… so yeah," John answered. He flashed her a grin. "It'll be fun. Of course, there are loads of Christmas traditions we can't really observe here, but the party will be a valiant attempt."

Teyla smiled widely, and the two of them stood aside once again as two other people walked past them, holding a large bowl of punch between them.

Teyla frowned again. "What is that?" She asked John.

"Punch," he told her. "It should be mulled wine, but instead it's some makeshift punch that Dr Zelenka made from Athosian alcohol."

Teyla looked at him curiously. "Mulled wine?" She asked.

John grinned. "One of those traditions I was talking about," he said. "It's like wine but it's got special spices in it and it's served hot, and it's _really _good… but I've heard the punch is good too." He shrugged.

Teyla looked over at the punch bowl, which had been set on the refreshments table not far away from where they were standing.

"It does not look like Athosian alcohol," she said, wandering over to have a closer look. John followed her.

"No, I think Zelenka's been doing some home-brewing on the sly," he said, quirking an eyebrow at her. Teyla smiled at him and leant over to smell the punch.

"It smells good," she said.

Never one to miss an opportunity to get close to Teyla, John stepped up right next to her and leant over her shoulder, his side brushing hers as he did so. He managed to keep his face neutral as he too breathed in deeply.

"You're right, it does," he said, straightening up. Teyla was looking up at him with slightly narrowed eyes, and John had a feeling that she knew what he was doing. He noticed that she didn't step back though.

He smiled at her again. "Want a taste?"

Teyla blinked, and John's smile widened. "The punch," he said, nodding towards the bowl. He looked over his shoulder to make sure that they weren't being watched, and then quickly reached for one of the glasses laid out on the table next to the bowl. He dipped it into the punch, raised the glass to Teyla with a wink, and took a sip. It was surprisingly good.

He licked his lips and held out the glass to Teyla, one eyebrow raised. Teyla looked at him for a moment with a small smile, and then rolled her eyes and took the glass from him. John watched her as she raised the glass to her lips and took a sip of the dark red liquid, her eyes sliding shut as the wine slid into her mouth and her lips contracting on the rim of the glass…

John shook his head slightly. Maybe he was a little too close…

Teyla's eyes fluttered open as she swallowed, and she smiled at him. "It is very good," she said. She licked her lips and John decided that he most definitely _was _too close, and took a step back.

"Yeah, not bad," John said, his voice oddly husky. He cleared his throat and looked back towards the tree. No one was paying them any attention.

"So, what other Christmas traditions are there?" Teyla asked, setting the glass down on the table.

John looked back at her and smiled again. "Well… a big turkey dinner…"

"Like at Thanksgiving?"

John nodded. "Yep," he said. "There's a special cake called Christmas pudding that you pour flaming brandy over; presents that you give to each other, and keep under the tree until Christmas morning; stockings that you hang over fireplaces for little presents; Santa Clause and the reindeer; mistletoe; carol singing; things called wreaths that you hang on doors… there's loads of stuff."

Teyla cocked her head to one side. "What is mistletoe?" She asked him.

John's eyebrows shot up. Of all the things he had just listed, she zeroed in on the _mistletoe_? Was she _trying _to kill him?

"Mistletoe? Well…"

"I heard two of the scientists talking of it yesterday," Teyla said.

_Ah_. Well, that explained that.

"It's a plant," said John. "And at Christmas… well…"

There was a box of different plants near the tree that were going to be used for decorations.

John grinned. "Follow me," he said to Teyla, heading over to the box. He crouched down next to it and carefully rooted around amongst the leaves and branches, keeping an eye on the guys decorating the tree at the same time. He didn't expect them to try and prevent him from stealing one of their plants, but he didn't really want this getting round.

_Was he really doing this?_

John's hand closed round what he was looking for, and he hesitated a moment. Then he felt Teyla step up behind him, and all he could think of was Teyla drinking that wine…

_Never __one to waste an opportunity_…

John pulled the sprig of leaves out of the box and stood up, a feral grin on his face. He nodded for Teyla to follow him, and led her to the balcony exit. He stepped just outside and waited for Teyla to join him.

It was a balmy late afternoon on Atlantis – not exactly Christmas weather. But still, it didn't matter.

"Is that mistletoe?" Teyla asked, looking at the plant in his hand.

John grinned. "Yep," he said.

"What does it do?"

John's grin widened. "It doesn't _do _anything," he told her. "You hang it up as a decoration at Christmas time, and there's a tradition that if two people end up underneath it, like _this_," – he raised his arm – "they have to kiss each other."

Teyla looked up at his hand, looking thoughtful. She looked back at John, her mouth open to say something, but when she caught the smirk on his face whatever she had been about to say died on her lips. Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed slightly.

John shrugged. "Well?" He said cheekily.

Teyla's cheeks grew darker, and she glanced back into the commissary. John started to feel guilty – he had put her on the spot, there were people around, she was obviously uncomfortable…

Then, suddenly, Teyla stepped towards him, rose up on tiptoe, placed her hands flat on his chest, and kissed him. John barely had time to register the fact that her lips felt like silk on his before she pulled away, sucking lightly on his lower lip as she did so.

John blinked and dropped his hand, staring at Teyla in silence. She smiled at him. "Your world has many strange customs, John Sheppard" she said.

Then she was gone.

John stood frozen for a moment, before a grin slowly crept across his face. He looked down at the plant in his hand.

_Oh yeah, never waste an __ opportunity_.

XXX

"This isn't a bad party, considering we only decided to do it two days ago," said McKay. He, Beckett, Ford and Teyla were sitting at one of the commissary table, people watching with John.

John nodded his agreement and took another swig of punch.

"Hopefully next year we can get some proper decorations from Earth," said Ford.

"I'll drink to that!" Said Beckett, raising his glass and then drinking. The men all followed suit. John noticed Teyla looking puzzled as he lowered his glass, and he grinned at her.

"Just one of our strange customs," he said to her.

Teyla raised an amused eyebrow at him, and then raised her glass and drank from it. John grinned again and went back to people watching. He had been a little worried that things would be awkward between him and Teyla after their encounter, but everything was fine, for which he was grateful.

And McKay was right about the party – it seemed to be pretty successful. Nearly the entire expedition was there, sampling the punch, talking together, admiring the Christmas tree and singing along to the music issuing through the makeshift sound system. Thank god for iPods…

"Is that _mistletoe_?" Said Ford suddenly.

John looked up sharply and saw that Ford was pointing to a spot halfway across the room, where one of the scientists was holding a sprig identical to the one John had had earlier. It might have even been the same one. He was holding it over the head of one of John's female officers who, to his mind, was _way _out of the guy's league.

Uh-oh.

"That's not mistletoe," said McKay.

"Of course it's not," said Beckett, chuckling. "You really think we found _mistletoe_ on the mainland? That'd be one hell of a coincidence!"

John concentrated on taking another pull from his drink.

"You think she'll go for it?" Said Ford, sounding amused.

"I doubt it… yeah, didn't think so," said McKay.

Curiosity got the better of John and he raised his eyes to look back at the couple. She was walking away, laughing, and the scientist shrugged and wandered over to some of his friends, grinning.

Tough break.

John glanced at Teyla and saw she was looking straight at him, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed thoughtfully. She arched an eyebrow at him, and John decided that now would be a very good time to bring out the charm smile.

Teyla looked away for a moment and then back at him, and John could clearly see she was trying not to smile. His smile turned into a grin.

Ford was laughing the scientist's fake-mistletoe attempt. "Well, I guess it was worth a try," he said.

John quirked an eyebrow at Teyla, and the smile she had been trying to hold back blossomed on her face.

"Absolutely," said John, still looking at Teyla.

Teyla shook her head and took another sip of her drink, and John quickly looked away from the sight of her lips on the glass.

He really hoped Ford was right about there being real mistletoe next year.


	2. Mistletoe and Wine Part Two

**Mistletoe and Wine – Part Two**

_One Year Later_

"This party is much better than last year's," said Carson. He, Rodney, Ronon, Radek and John were standing by the open balcony door, hoping to catch a breeze from outside. It was a sweltering night.

There were murmurs of agreement, and John took a sip of his mulled wine. It was really good, and the first time he'd had mulled wine in years, but he couldn't help thinking of the punch from the other party. It would probably be better on a night like this.

Ah, who was he kidding? He'd been craving that punch all year for one reason and one reason only – it was what Teyla's kiss had tasted like.

"I don't know, last year's party had a nice homey feel to it," said John cryptically.

"Homey?" Asked Ronon.

John shrugged. "We were cut off from Earth, so we didn't have any Christmas stuff," he explained. "So we made decorations, and we had punch instead of mulled wine, and there was hardly any food…"

"And you think that was _better_?" Asked Rodney sardonically.

John shrugged and had some more mulled wine. He had to admit that the room looked amazing, with twinkling white lights everywhere, and sparkling ornaments hanging from the tree in the corner. The smell of the mulled wine filled the room, and Christmas music played from the new sound system. There was lots of Christmas themed food, and as everyone had had time to prepare for this one they had come dressed up.

It _was_ a better party. John just couldn't help thinking of Ford, and how he'd talked about his hopes for this party. He would have loved this.

And Teyla… he hadn't seen Teyla all day. John had a feeling she was avoiding him – perhaps because she thought he'd try to get her under the mistletoe again. The second time he'd kissed her, a couple of months ago, hadn't been quite so laughable.

John sighed and finished off his mulled wine.

"There's actual mistletoe this year," said Rodney suddenly. John frowned – had he read his mind or something?

"What's mistletoe?" Asked Ronon.

"It's a plant," said Carson. "If you end up under the mistletoe with someone, you have to kiss them."

Ronon raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

There was a moment's silence. "I don't bloody know," said Carson, making everyone laugh. "It's just tradition."

"Last year Dr Vorash tried to get Lieutenant Anderson to kiss him under some random plant we'd found on the mainland," said Rodney. "She laughed in his face."

John couldn't help smiling at the memory, and the way Teyla had looked at him like he was a naughty schoolboy. Which he guessed he was in a way… it had been a little childish.

So worth it though.

At least, he'd thought so until today. Now he was worried that his actions had made Teyla wary of him.

"Where did you see the mistletoe?" Radek asked Rodney.

Rodney started to point into the crowd, but dropped his hand quickly. "One of the new officers," he said. He shrugged. "I don't know where she's gone. But she had some mistletoe."

"Mistletoe?"

Teyla appeared as if from nowhere, stepping up next to Rodney. She had a wide smile on her face, and was wearing a dark brown evening dress with spaghetti straps and a knee length skirt, and a pair of gold strappy sandals. Her hair was hanging down in loose waves around her shoulders.

John felt his jaw drop slightly, but recovered quickly, thankful that no one – especially Teyla – was looking at him.

"You look lovely," said Carson. Teyla's smile grew.

"Thank you, Carson," she said. "Lieutenant Granger leant me the dress, and I was not sure at first but now I quite like it."

She twirled around and John was torn between amusement at her high spirits and the need to drag her somewhere where no one would see the thigh she was flashing but him.

Teyla stopped twirling quickly, and turned to Rodney. "Rodney, is this mistletoe?" She asked him. She opened up her hand to reveal a sprig of mistletoe.

Rodney's eyes widened and he nodded. "Er, yeah," he said.

Teyla nodded. "Good, I just wanted to be sure," she said. Then, to John's everlasting shock, she raised the plant above her and Rodney's heads.

John thought that Rodney's eyes were going to bug out of his head, he looked so shocked. He flushed red and cleared his throat nervously.

"Um… Teyla I don't know if you know what it means when you have –"

Teyla rolled her eyes, stepped forward and kissed him, cutting him off very effectively.

The kiss lasted all of a second, but it was enough for John's grip on his glass to get dangerously tight. He forced himself to relax. _What the hell was Teyla doing_?

Teyla smiled at Rodney as she stepped back. "Happy Christmas, Rodney," she said.

Rodney gaped at her silently, and Teyla gave him another smile, and then stepped to his right so she was in front of Radek.

John put his empty glass down on the table next to them, truly worried that he would break it. She was going to kiss all of them. John wasn't sure whether that was a good thing – on the one hand it meant he got to kiss Teyla again, but on the other hand he was first going to have to watch her kiss all the other men between herself and him.

Radek looked around slightly nervously before he too got a kiss from Teyla, and a 'Happy Christmas'.

Carson laughed as Teyla moved on to him. "Enjoying the mulled wine, are you Teyla?" He asked her.

Teyla merely grinned and kissed him as well. John shook his head in disbelief. _God, I hope she is drunk. Otherwise why would she be doing this?_

John knew he was stupid to think that this was a bad thing, but somehow it… cheapened what had happened between them last year. And he knew that was _really _stupid, since that hadn't even been real mistletoe, and therefore was already pretty cheap. Still though…

Ronon was looking at Teyla as though she were completely insane. "You have got to be kidding me," he said flatly when she stepped in front of him. John couldn't help a small smile at the look on his face, and the fact the Teyla wasn't tall enough to get the mistletoe to reach over Ronon's head.

"Ah, go on son," said Carson, taking a sip of his wine. John shook his head again, a feeling of anticipation starting in his chest. It was his turn next…

Ronon rolled his eyes and obediently leant down so Teyla could kiss him.

"Happy Christmas, Ronon," Teyla said as he straightened up. Ronon just rolled his eyes again.

Teyla took a couple of steps and then turned to face John, who tried to keep his face passive. Now that she was standing in front of him, mistletoe in her hand, it was hard to keep from smirking.

Teyla cocked her head to one side, looking at John through narrowed eyes, a small smile on her face.

She grinned. "Happy Christmas, John," she said.

And then she was gone.

John's mouth dropped open in shock. "Wh-?" He heard laughter behind him and turned to find his four so-called friends cracking up at his expense. Even Ronon was shaking with silent laughter, and John had never seen him laugh before.

Rodney calmed his laughing enough to speak. "What did you do to her?" He asked John.

John glared at him. "I didn't do _anything_!" He said indignantly, though he knew that wasn't strictly true. If this was payback for what he did last year, then it was a _bitch_.

John swiped the glass of mulled wine from Ronon's hand and, glaring at his still-laughing companions, downed its contents.

XXXX

The party had wound right down when John wandered along the balcony a few hours later. Despite Teyla's little trick, he had actually had a pretty good time at the party, and he was now getting some fresh air to try and clear his head before he headed to bed. There were a few people still in the commissary, sitting around the tables and laughing, but the balcony was deserted.

John stopped and watched the white lights from the party twinkle on the water's surface for a few moments before turning to head back in.

It was then that he saw Teyla.

She was standing in the entrance to the commissary, leaning against the doorframe and watching him. She was framed with bright light from behind her, and the moonlight behind John lit her front almost as brightly. She looked almost ethereal.

John walked over to her slowly, his hands in his pockets. He leant a shoulder against the wall next to her, and gave her a lopsided smile.

"You know, a guy could feel slighted," he said.

Teyla raised an eyebrow at him. "Now John," she said calmly. "Everyone got one kiss under the mistletoe… you should not be greedy."

She stood up straight and walked round him so she was on his other side. John stood up straight as well and turned around to face her again. Now she was lit only by moonlight and a little harder to see, but he could still see the smile on her face.

John smiled back. "Well strictly speaking it wasn't mistletoe… but you're right," he said. "Greed is an ugly thing."

Teyla nodded, and took a couple of steps backwards. John didn't know what she was doing, and leant against the wall again, staying where he was.

"Did you enjoy the party?" Asked John.

Teyla smiled again. "I am sorry John, I cannot hear you," she said.

John rolled his eyes and took a couple of steps towards her. "Did you enjoy the party?" He repeated as he got closer.

Teyla nodded. "Yes I did," she said. "Did you?"

"Yeah," said John, smirking. "Especially the part where everyone was laughing at me all night."

Teyla just smirked right back. "Was that a complaint, John?" She asked sweetly.

"No, not at all," he answered. "I'm not greedy."

Teyla looked up, and John followed her gaze. On the wall above them was a festive, leafy arrangement was hung along the wall, and nestled amongst it, directly above their heads, was a sprig of mistletoe.

John's mouth dropped open as he looked back down at Teyla, who was watching him with one eyebrow raised. _The little… _John settled on a word that suited her and was suitably Christmassy… _vixen. _

Teyla shrugged nonchalantly. "It is tradition, though," she said.

John nodded in a businesslike manner. "Very true," he said seriously.

John took a step closer to Teyla, and she tipped her head back to look up at him. John allowed himself a moment to just look into her eyes, but then Teyla's hands brushed up against his chest on their way to his neck and he decided he could look into her eyes any time.

John covered Teyla's lips with his, gently brushing them while his hand came to rest ever-so-lightly on her hip. A year ago, he hadn't been ready when Teyla had kissed him. That time in the gym, he hadn't been in full control of his… um, _instincts_… now, he kissed Teyla as tenderly as he could.

He felt rather than heard Teyla moan slightly, and he wanted nothing more than to deepen the kiss. But he could taste the mulled wine on her lips, and knew that now wasn't the time. They were both drunk, and they were at a party, and there were issues. So many issues.

So instead he pulled back. His hand dropped from Teyla's hip, and hers dropped from where they had been caressing the sides of his neck.

They stood staring at each other in the moonlight, neither of them wanting to break the spell first.

A great shout of laughter from inside the commissary did that for them.

Teyla smiled. "Happy Christmas John," she said quietly.

"Happy Christmas Teyla."

Teyla smiled again – then she walked past him again, her arm brushing lightly against his as she did, and disappeared through the doorway.

John let out a breath and leant back against the wall. He looked up at the mistletoe and smiled.

_Until next year_.

_**The End**_


End file.
